


Brighter Side

by muffinsome



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Gen, Remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-07
Updated: 2013-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-07 17:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/751300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muffinsome/pseuds/muffinsome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ohno hates his job, but everything has a bright side. Office AU written for jentfic_remix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brighter Side

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ltgmars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ltgmars/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Stapler](https://archiveofourown.org/works/276510) by [ltgmars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ltgmars/pseuds/ltgmars). 



It’s the same every day of the week. Same dull tune of his alarm clock, same coffee can from the same vending machine, same train ride. He sleeps through most of it, often misses his stop and has to come back around. He sleeps through most of that ride too.

At the office, the voice of the receptionist as she politely recites her morning greetings sounds like background white noise, much like the buzz of the neon outside of the elevator. Much like the printing machine behind his desk. Much like the phone ringing at 2:58, his boss wanting to know if the 3 o’clock report has been submitted yet. It probably hasn’t, but Ohno never fails to nod back at the receptionist.

*

“Ohno-kun, you aren’t falling asleep over there, are you?”

*

“I found it,” Aiba whispers, right into Ohno’s ear, and Ohno startles, making a strange snorting sound as he straightens up and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Eh?”

“I found it,” Aiba repeats before plopping himself into the chair next to Ohno. He’s smiling that smile that Ohno knows so well, the one that makes Ohno want to pay attention. Something is coming. Something exciting.

“It?” Ohno asks, trying to catch on.

Aiba nods. “It,” he says with emphasis.

Yesterday, Aiba was an assassin, and the day before that they were con artists. Last week, it was pirates, undercover zombies and janitor superheroes. Today, Ohno isn’t sure yet what it’ll be.

“It’s on the fourteenth floor, in the hallway leading to the ladies washroom. Next to the large potted plant,” Aiba continues in a conspiring tone. “We could make a fortune with that one.”

Ohno blinks. Then, “Ah!”

Aiba grins. “Are you in?”

*

It’s not his dream job, not even remotely close, but it somehow makes him feel like he’s sleepwalking through his life. A dreamless interminable slumber.

The truth is Ohno hates his job, but without any passion. He isn’t bitter about it; he didn’t really have any ambition to start with. But in retrospect he might have been better off doing something else.

The phone rings. 2:57. He lets it go to voicemail even though he’s long forgotten the password. The 3 o’clock report isn’t ready. The printer is printing. The neon in the hallway is still buzzing.

Ohno closes his eyes.

*

"You're so much livelier when we go out," Aiba remarks one day. They’re sitting side by side at the bar of a small drinking place they go to sometimes after work.

Aiba’s shoulder pushes against Ohno's, and Ohno pushes back.

"Eeh, what do you mean?" Ohno asks. His fingers slip down along the sides his glass, creating clear little paths through the layer of condensed water.

He knows. But he wonders if Aiba does. If Aiba understands that he’s probably the only reason Ohno hasn’t lost his job. Or his sanity.

"Just that. It's good to see you smile," Aiba says.

*

And it makes Ohno think. What if?

*

“What if we run away?” Ohno says a few days later, seemingly out of the blue. It could be one of those games they play, but he could hypothetically be serious.

“What, like go on a trip?” Aiba asks.

“No,” Ohno says. “Like running away.”

Aiba giggles. “Where would we go?” he asks, and Ohno feels the blood run faster through his veins.

“New York.”

It’s not like he’s given this any real consideration before, but now that he’s thinking about it, it makes so much sense. If he could just get out of here, exit without saving and start all over again with Aiba…

“Would we be gangsters?” Aiba asks enthusiastically.

Ohno shakes his head. “You’d be a taxi driver, and I’d be a fisherman. We’d probably be homeless at first, but we’d live in a park and we’d tame all of the animals, the birds and the stray cats and the foxes.”

“You’re crazy. “ Aiba is shaking with laughter, but his grin is so wide that Ohno can’t help but continue.

“We’d build a shelter under a bridge. I’d create art, like sketches on pieces of cardboard and mud figurines, and you’d try to sell them to anyone who rides with you.”

“In my taxi?”

“Yes. In your taxi.”

“Would they buy it?” Aiba asks, eyes shiny like he’s actually excited about the idea, like he would maybe consider it.

Ohno shakes his head. “No,” he laughs, and he’s never felt more awake. “They’d say it’s crap and then they’d get out of your taxi without paying.”

*

The next morning, Ohno’s usual vending machine has been replaced by a newer model. Last week, it was his stapler. Maybe tomorrow the neon won’t be buzzing anymore? The thought is strange. Almost unsettling.

Things are changing? Things are changing, and it makes him feels a little breathless for some reason. Light headed.

“Today, let’s go to Italy,” Aiba says.

“Italy?” Ohno asks, turning around to see him walk in.

“I hear the IT department got a brand new espresso machine,” Aiba whispers cheerfully.

Ohno smiles. “Whose pass did you steal?” he asks.

“You mean whose passport are we going to borrow?” Aiba corrects him, pulling out a company ID card from his pocket.

“Whose passport…” Ohno repeats dutifully, and Aiba hands over the card to him. NINOMIYA Kazunari, it reads.

“Shall we take a trip to Italy?” Aiba asks.

“I’m in.”

*

Ohno doesn’t run away. Maybe he doesn’t need to. He doesn’t quit his job, doesn’t even get fired. For all he knows, he may still find himself in exactly the same place in five or ten years, but somehow he realises he is oddly at peace with that.

As they say, there is always a bright side.

And for Ohno, there is Aiba.

 

BONUS

“Stop right there,” someone calls, and Ohno freezes with his finger just an inch from the start button.

“Are you from IT?” Ohno asks.

“I’m the coffee machine operator,” the guy replies dryly. He pushes Ohno out of the way and fills the water tank before clipping it back into place. “There you go.”

Ohno stares at him uncertainly for a second. The guy stares back.

“I’m Ohno,” Ohno says. “My friend stole your ID card.”


End file.
